The present invention relates to hairbrushes. In particular, the present invention is a two-piece molded hairbrush which includes a brush body and a bristle insert.
The most common type of bristle for hairbrushes is the nylon tufted bristle. Nylon tufted bristles are made by tufting pieces of nylon into holes which have been drilled or molded into the head of the brush. The tufting process is similar to sewing. This process is repeated for each individual bristle throughout the entire brush head. Nylon tufted bristles have significant advantages in that they tend to be quite flexible and have excellent memory. Memory, which refers to the ability of the bristles to return to their original position after being bent out of shape, is important for the longevity of the hairbrush. Flexibility is important for overall comfort of the brush on the scalp. The bristles will tend to bend away from rather than stab into the scalp surface.
Although nylon tufted bristles have these advantages, they also present significant shortcomings. First, when the bristle is tufted, some tufting processes require that a secondary short stub is left at the base of the bristle. Thus, the hairbrush tends to trap pieces of hair between the short stub and the actual bristle. This tears hair as it passes through the brush. Second, nylon tufted bristles tend to have an area of space between the bristle and the brush block. Typically, the nylon bristle does not fit tightly in the hole of the brush block into which it is tufted, that is, the diameter of the hole in the brush block is larger than the diameter of the nylon bristle. Thus, the area between the nylon bristle and the brush block tends to trap and tear hair. Third, brushes made using nylon tufted bristles tend to leave lines in the hair on which the brush is used. This occurs because the nylon bristles need to be anchored into the brush block. When the brush block has been vented, the area available to anchor these bristles will quite often be in a straight row. When the bristles are in rows one bristle merely passes directly behind another bristle leaving rows in the hair. Although some attempts have been made to curve the vents in the brushes to prevent the bristles from being in a straight row, these attempts have not been successful overall.
Costs are also a significant limitation in the manufacturing of nylon tufted brushes. Nylon itself is an expensive material. In addition, there are extensive time expenditures in manufacturing nylon tufted brushes. Each bristle must be tufted into the brush block individually, which greatly increase the cost of manufacture.
Alternative hairbrush designs include molded bristle brushes. These brushes remedy significantly some of the shortcomings of the nylon tufted brushes. For example, the bristles on the molded bristle brushes can be angled so that no straight lines will be left in the hair on which the brush is used. Also, no short stub pieces are left on the base of the bristles so that hair will not tend to tear as it moves through the bristles.
However, molded bristle brushes have significant shortcomings of their own. For example, they have poor memory and poor flexibility. Of course, this is true of brushes not molded with nylon. If the brushes are molded with nylon then memory is good but the expense is more than most consumers will pay. When the bristles of (non-nylon) molded brushes are bent out of shape, they tend to stay in that shape rather than to return to their original shape. They also have poor flexibility so that bristles tend to poke into a scalp rather than bend away from it. This is because of the one piece or solid block construction which gives no cushion for the bristles. This leads to a lack of comfort and also causes the bristles to break rather than bend when they impact surfaces. The bristles also tend to tear hair rather than give way to it.
There is continuing need for a hairbrush that remedies the shortcomings of both the nylon tufted brushes and the molded bristle brushes.